By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump told Reuters in a phone interview on Friday that it was unclear if Iran still has a nuclear program following Israeli strikes on the country.
“Nobody knows. It was a very devastating hit,” Trump said.
Israel said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Trump told Reuters the U.S. still has nuclear talks planned with Iran on Sunday but that he was unsure they would take place. He said it was not too late for Iran to make a deal.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet an Iranian delegation in Oman on Sunday, but the Israeli attacks have raised doubts on whether the session will still take place.
Trump had initially worked to delay an Israeli attack to give diplomacy more time. But he said he had given the Iranians 60 days “and today is 61.”
“They’re not dead,” Trump said of the U.S.-Iran talks. “We have a meeting with them on Sunday. Now, I’m not sure if that meeting will take place, but we have a meeting with them on Sunday.”
Trump said he was fully aware of Israel’s plans for the attack.
The president had convened his top national security advisers at Camp David on Sunday night for what he said were discussions that included Iran and he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday about Iran.
“We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out. They can still work out a deal however, it’s not too late,” he said.
He said he was not concerned about a regional war breaking out as a result of Israel’s strikes.
Asked if the United States would support Israel against Iranian counterattacks, Trump said he supports Israel.
“We’ve been very close to Israel,” he said. “We’re their number one ally by far.”
“We’ll see what happens,” he said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Bhargav Acharya, Colleen Jenkins and Howard Goller)
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